Excerpt: A charity affiliated with the Clinton Foundation
failed to reveal the identities of its 1,100 donors, creating a broad exception
to the foundation’s promise to disclose funding sources as part of an ethics
agreement with the Obama administration. The number of undisclosed contributors
to the charity, the Canada-based Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership,
signals a larger zone of secrecy around foundation donors than was previously
known.

Clinton Foundation Made The Same Foreign Donation
‘Mistake’ 1,100 Times. By Chuck Ross

Excerpt: The Canadian arm of the Clinton
Foundation has more than 1,100 undisclosed donors and is seeking
permission from the top 28 to reveal their identity, according to reports. The
disclosure effort is in response to the intense scrutiny aimed at the Clinton
Foundation’s failure to comply with an ethics agreement it signed in 2008
before Hillary Clinton took the job as secretary of state.

63% Think Hillary
Clinton May Have Helped Foreign Donors As Secretary of State

Excerpts: Just over half of voters do not trust Hillary
Clinton, but even more think she used her position as secretary of State to
benefit some of those who gave money to her Clinton Foundation. The latest
Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of Likely U.S.
Voters think it’s likely some actions Clinton took as secretary of State were
influenced by donations made to the Clinton Foundation. (The other 37% think Russia and Saudi Arabia are Santa Clause.
~Bob)

Excerpt: The charity’s memo notes that under Canadian law,
donors have the right to privacy, and that the board of directors has a
fiduciary responsibility to use donors’ personal information for its own
charitable purposes. While that may be the case, Pally’s statement implies that
there is a blanket Canadian law that bans charities from disclosing donor
information without permission. That is not exactly the case. Three Pinocchios

Excerpt: When all was said and done with the investigation,
the DNC was fined $115,000 and the Clinton-Gore campaign was fined $2,000. This
gives us plenty of ammunition to hit Clinton with.* In addition to spotlighting
the time they hit Bob Dole over these donations, it brings to light the fact
that, while President, Bill Clinton signed an executive order banning foreign
lobbying, and it highlights the 42nd President's role in 1990s campaign finance
reform. It also shows us how the Clinton
administration made no real effort to insure that witnesses called before the
committee gave honest responses--or even to insure that many of them would even
show up!

Excerpt: Promising to fight what he deems "obscene
levels" of income disparity and a campaign finance system that is a
"real disgrace," independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said
Wednesday he will run for president as a Democrat. In an interview with The
Associated Press, Sanders confirmed his plans to formally join the race
Thursday. The self-described "democratic socialist" enters the race
as a robust liberal alternative to Hillary Rodham Clinton, and he pledged to do
more than simply raise progressive issues or nudge the former secretary of
state to the left in a campaign in which she is heavily favored. ("obscene
levels" a hit on Hillary? ~Bob)

Excerpt: To keep their jobs,
554,799 American workers were forced last year to pay union agency fees. In the
25 states without right-to-work laws, unions can take mandatory “fair share” or
“agency” fees from workers who decline union membership. Those fees
often amount to hundreds of dollars per year. Unions can’t spend agency fees
directly on politics, but taking fees from nonmembers frees unions to spend
more from members’ dues on political activism for
“progressive,” big-government policies.

Excerpt: The Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax
Administration announced overnight that it had recovered roughly 6,400 Lerner
emails that Congress has yet to see and that it will examine them as part of Congress’
bipartisan investigation that also includes the Senate Finance Committee. Roughly
650 of the recovered emails are from 2010 and 2011, while most of them are from
2012. (In unrelated news: IRA IG transferred to Barrow, Alaska field office. ~Bob)

Excerpt: The U.S.
economy stalled in the first quarter, expanding by just .02 percent, hurt by
weak exports and a drop in business investment, according to a report released
Wednesday by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis. The figure fell short of
analyst's predictions of 1 percent growth and well below the previous quarter's
2.2 percent growth, indicating that the U.S. economy is losing momentum,
undermining President Obama's recent efforts to tout the economic recovery.

Excerpt: Almost exactly 20 years ago, Steven Forbes started
talking about flat tax. Two decades later, the flat tax is again the rage in a
presidential primary. A number of GOP candidates, including Rand Paul, Rick
Perry, Ted Cruz and Scott Walker, are looking to go flat with a radically
simplified postcard tax
return. Mike Huckabee wants a low flat-rate tax too, but he would use a
sales tax, not an income tax. The new Republican Party has been baptized in the
iron logic of the Laffer Curve. High tax rates stifle innovation, work,
investment and American competitiveness. The United States' absurdly high
corporate tax rate (40 percent on average) is incontrovertibly sending jobs and
corporations abroad, where rates are typically much lower. Just ask Burger
King, one of the latest iconic American
companies to flee to a lower-tax competitor.

Excerpt: What does it mean to have a culture where few will
fight for a country all profess to love? Perhaps American Exceptionalism is to
blame. Ironically, those who have hawkish views on American policy, yet do not
fight themselves, and those with dovish views on the use of military force
unwittingly share similar conclusions on this point. They believe that their
version of America
is such a special creation in God’s eyes or has reached such a state of
enlightened, modern development that the normal rules of history do not apply.
... Words no longer match deeds. America stands divided politically,
economically, and socially. Its foreign policy is adrift without a grand
strategy over the last 15 years of the post-9/11 era. There is little sign thus
far that things will change in 2016. We are indeed a long way away from those
farmers, laborers, and merchantmen who stood together, shoulder to shoulder, at
NorthBridge
in Concord and
faced down an empire, knowing it would mean the end of life as they had known
it and death for many of them, especially if they failed. The stakes were high
then. They are just as high today.

Eighth-graders
struggling with basic U.S.
history, civics. By Jason Russell

Excerpt: Less than one-in-five eighth graders have a
proficient grasp of United
States history, and less than a quarter have
a proficient grasp of civics, according to new government data released
Wednesday.

Rising Dragon News

The Hundred Year Marathon: China’s new, better ‘leap forward.’
By Robert Samuelson

Excerpt: No country can be a global power without an
engineering and scientific base. It’s necessary to run modern factories,
develop new products, analyze and deal with complex social problems —
pollution, food safety, sickness and disease — and (if the country chooses) to
build and project military might. China’s rise to power once again
confirms this truism. ... During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) — Mao
Zedong’s grisly effort to purify the Communist Party by banishing millions of
Chinese to the countryside — China
repudiated modern science. ... Since then, China has been on a science and
technology tear, as a new
study by Harvard economists Richard Freeman and Wei Huang shows. Here
are highlights:

Excerpt: Today, however, only a handful of my friends will
go on to run their own labs, though more would like to. Some go into industry
or consulting or law. Others leave science altogether. As public funding for
science and technology shrinks, it just isn’t possible for people who want to
become scientists in America
to actually become scientists. So when a friend of mine who recently received
her PhD in molecular biology asked for some career advice, the answer was easy.
Go to China,
I told her.

Gun News

VA Sends Veterans’
Medical Info To FBI To Get Their Guns Taken Away. By Patrick Howley

Excerpt: The VA puts you on the list if they say you can’t
handle your “financial affairs”: “…VA provides the Department of Justice a
monthly list of individuals who have been rated by VA as being unable to manage
their VA benefits,” according to a federal government “frequently asked questions” document obtained
by TheDC. The VA information technology center in Austin, Texas
sends the FBI “a monthly CD” containing names of new veterans being added to
the list.

Excerpt: We've all watched Black politicians drag Detroit into a 3rd world
city, morally and financially bankrupt, rife with crime, a long line of mayors
imprisoned for graft and corruption. Black leaders couldn't keep the water
running, or the garbage picked up, or even provide basic personal protection of
its citizens. Hard on the heels of Detroit's
demise, Baltimore, Maryland
is simply "Detroit;
Part II." Just as Detroit was a thriving
metropolis in 1960, Baltimore,
in 1960, was a prosperous city; a safe, low crime, desirable place for folks to
live. In 1960 Baltimore
had a population of a million hard working people; 20 percent Black, 80 percent
White. "White Flight" has left Baltimore
with half their former population, overwhelmingly Black. As with Detroit, Baltimore
got rid of the honkey politicians and the Black majority elected city leaders
from their own ranks. And Black leaders rewarded their citizenry with graft and
corruption....and the citizenry just got more impoverished.

Excerpt: Grocerystore brand
Whole Foods is facing backlash this week after they made efforts to support law
enforcement who have been trying to protect Baltimore from the violent race riots. “We
teamed up with Whole Foods Market Mt. Washington to make sandwiches for the men
and women keeping Baltimore
safe. We are so thankful to have them here and they’re pumped for Turkey &
Cheese,” one of the supermarket’s local stores posted on Instagram. The post
infuriated many on the left, who stand with the Obama Administration. (The
liberal elitists will have to eat non-organic yogurt like us common folks.
~Bob)

Excerpt: Despite a firm denial by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie
Rawlings-Blake, a senior law enforcement source charges that she gave an order
for police to stand down as riots broke out Monday night, raising more
questions about whether some of the violence and looting could have been
prevented. The source, who is involved in the enforcement efforts, confirmed to
Fox News there was a direct order from the mayor to her police chief Monday
night, effectively tying the hands of officers as they were pelted with rocks
and bottles.

Preventing violence

Wife met with New
Haven mayor and town mayor as part of a multi-faith
team to prevent youth violence, in part driven by a kid killed in a drive by
last week. New Haven
mayor is from the Loretta Lynch school of political qualifications. She told me
about all the committees formed to address the multitude of issues. I asked if
there was a committee on parental assistance or intervention. Hadn't thought of
that one. --GS

Excerpt: As Baltimore
burns, Baltimore City Council President Jack
Young took to address apparently
the most important thing on his desk: apologizing for calling rioters “thugs.” He
instead called those responsible for the shocking violence “misdirected.” You
think? Keep in mind these “misdirected” rioters have torched 15 buildings and
hundreds of cars, and attacked more than 15 police officers. Their pictures
could be in Webster’s Dictionary under the word “thug.” They now say the use of
"thug" is racist. I would call the Aryan Nation thugs, and their
diversity policy for recruiting minorities is somewhat limited. ~Bob)

Excerpt: Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has introduced the
Preserving Freedom and Choice in Health
Care bill, which he frames as a response to the Supreme Court deciding for
the plaintiffs in King v Burwell. This lawsuit seeks to force the
administration to obey the law by not paying tax credits to health
plans that operate in states using a federal health insurance exchange
(i.e. healthcare.gov), says NCPA senior fellow John R. Graham. Victory for the
plaintiffs would cause massive disruption in health insurance in the 36 states
using healthcare.gov because beneficiaries' premiums would increase
significantly. Up to nine million people would experience this effect.

Excerpt: Most voters still consider America an
equitable place to live and feel strongly that newcomers to this country should
adopt our way of life. (Press Two For Spanish is racist! First because
non-English speaking immigrants from other cultures do not get everything in
their native languages, and second because Hispanics who don't speak English
are worse off economically than those who do. So it keeps them poor. ~Bob)

Excerpt: Taxpayers are on the hook for more than $2.2
billion in expected costs from the federal government’s energy loan guarantee
programs, according to a new audit Monday that suggests the controversial
projects may not pay for themselves, as
officials had promised.

Excerpt: Mississippi
Watchdog reporter Steve Wilson, who has been following the Kemper Project story
for more than a year now, ticks off a laundry list of disconcerting facts along
these lines. The clean coal plant has increased in cost by more than 70 percent
over its initial projections and is two years behind schedule –
due in part to delays and government regulations. It is
held up as an example for future coal
power plants, but the dirty little secret is that currently it does not work –
and might never work. Unfortunately, it is the rate payers for Mississippi
Power, the utility that built the plant, who have been saddled with 18 percent
rate increases to pay for the plant’s $6.175 billion price tag. That makes it
one of the most expensive power plants per kilowatt in the country.

Excerpt: A senior Al Jazeera America manager is facing serious
allegations of sexist and anti-Semitic discrimination after an employee filed suit Tuesday for wrongful termination. Matthew
Luke is seeking $15 million in damages from the Qatar-owned network. The
complaint filed in New York
state court accuses Osman Mahmud of sexist discrimination, such as removing
female employees from projects and excluding women from emails and meetings
related to their assignments. Mahmud also allegedly made anti-American and
anti-Semitic comments, such as "whoever supports Israel should
die a fiery death in hell."

Excerpt: In preparing today’s testimony, I reviewed
the history of
al Qaeda’s plotting against the West. A number of facts demonstrate that al
Qaeda’s presence in Africa has been tied to
these efforts. For instance, declassified documents recovered in Osama bin
Laden’s compound show that he ordered al Qaeda’s branches in Africa to select candidates
capable of striking inside the U.S. Bin Laden also ordered al Qaeda’s African
branches to coordinate their work with his “external operations” team, which
was responsible for plotting attacks against Western interests. Some of al
Qaeda’s most senior leaders, including those who have overseen al Qaeda’s
planned attacks in the West, have come from Africa.
Senior al Qaeda leaders embedded in Shabaab have also trained operatives to
attack in Europe.

Excerpt: An Islamic terrorist leader who jumped straight
from his job at the Clinton Foundation to a post with Egypt’s jihadist Muslim Brotherhood
has received a life sentence back home for seditious activities.

Excerpt: Iran
has taken a new step today in aggression against Western shipping with a
kind of state-sponsored piracy. The container ship Maersk Tigris, owned by
a Danish company but “chartered” to a German-held corporation, was fired on and
boarded by the Iranian navy. The Danish ship and her crew were taken to Iran. An
American destroyer, the USS Farragut, has been ordered to intercept, but Iran has good
reason to believe that it will pay no price for its piracy, and may
even in fact benefit.

Excerpt: The Saudi monarchy’s overhaul of its aging
leadership moves a younger generation of royals into position to reinvigorate
the country at a time when it is trying to assert political and military
leadership in the Middle East and reshape ties
with the West. In a kingdom where elderly and infirm monarchs made all major
decisions for decades, the empowerment of younger members of the House of Saud
is a significant departure. It has already translated into a surprisingly
activist foreign policy that has asserted Saudi leadership of a Sunni Muslim
bloc confronting mainly Shiite Iran. And it comes as oil-rich Saudi Arabia
faces economic challenges at home brought on by the sharp fall in the price of
crude.

Nigerian army says
hundreds of girls rescued from Boko Haram camps. Rescue does not include any of
the schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago, military says

Excerpt: Nigeria's military says
it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Boko Haram in the northeastern SambisaForest but they do not include any of
the schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago from Chibok. The army announced the rescue
on Twitter Tuesday and said it is now screening and profiling the girls and
women.

Excerpt: She is a member of the Conservative Party, the
party of David Cameron and Theresa May, who are just as desperate to appease
Islamic supremacists and pander for Muslim votes as Miliband is. So this is not
much of a surprise — it’s just another day in shattered, staggering, Sharia
Britannia.